The Pay Back Job
by Wabit
Summary: Pay Backs a bitch and unfortunately Nate is about to find that out the painful way!
1. Chapter 1

THE PAY BACK JOB

They both sat in the bar, Eliot nursing a beer and Nate a whiskey. The bar had shut an hour ago and the rest of the team had gone upstairs for the night.  
"One day I'd like to have my own place actually as my own place" Nate said with a grin on his face. He wouldn't admit it but he liked having the gang around him, they where his family and family's stuck together. Eliot laughed and replied "You love having us around Nate why don't you just admit it". Nate shrugged his shoulders and downed his whiskey and poured himself another. Eliot downed his beer and headed off upstairs, they had a busy day planned tomorrow and he needed to catch up on some sleep!  
Nate poured himself another whiskey and thought about all the con's they'd been through, just how much of a family they'd become. At least that was one thing he had Victor Dubenich to thank. He stood up and place his whiskey glass in the sink and put his bottle back behind the bar and turned to walk upstairs when he though he heard a noise. He stood still and listened and heard nothing else and put it down to the old building creaking. He just reached the bottom step when he realised he wasn't alone but by then it was too late, the cloth was placed over his mouth and nose and he could smell Chloroform before he felt it starting to take effect. He tried to shout out, make some noise so the other's would hear him but a sharp blow to his stomach knocked the wind out of him and as he inhaled again he passed out. The intruders froze, listening to any sound coming from upstairs. Nothing so they proceeded to carry Nate out through the back door and into the waiting van parked just round the corner.


	2. Where's Nate?

Eliot woke early and had a quick shower before heading into the kitchen to make some breakfast for everyone. Hardison and Parker emerge next, closely followed by Sophie.  
"Nate not surfaced yet?" asked Eliot.  
"No he didn't come to bed last night I thought he slept on the sofa" replied Sophie. Eliot suddenly had a strange feeling and ran downstairs. Nothing, no sign of Nate anywhere, he checked the front door. No signs of forced entry so he looked at the back door and there it was a small mark on the doorframe someone had broken in last night and now Nate was missing! Eliot ran back upstairs and yelled at Hardison to start looking at the CCTV footage from last night after midnight. Hardison asked no questions and booted up his system and began looking straight away, the concern on Eliot's voice was enough evidence that it might be serious. They all sat in silence as they watched what happened to Nate unfold!  
"Can you get the licence plate of the van?" Eliot asked Hardison.

"Checking now, I'll cross reference the van with all the cameras in and around the area, I'll find them and we'll find Nate, but it may take a while". Eliot nodded and looked at Sophie and Parker.  
"I'll make some calls and see if anyone has any information" Sophie said with concern in her voice.  
"I'll help Hardison" Parker said as she sat down beside him and watched the cameras with worry etched on her face.  
Eliot picked up his mobile he had a few favours he could cash in, he just hoped he would need to use one.


	3. Escape and Evade?

Right at that moment in time Nate was slowly coming around from the Chloroform and was instantly sick. His stomach contents emptied onto the floor where he lay; once he stopped throwing up he slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position and looked around. He seemed to be in a small concrete room, one door and no window's what little light was in the room was gave off by a dimly lit bulb.  
He stood up slowly and walked towards the door and tried the handle. Locked.  
As if he could have been so lucky, but no harm in trying he thought. He checked for his phone, gone. Damn it, why had he been so stupid, he should have shouted for Eliot as soon as he heard a noise. He ran his hand through his hair as he tried to figure a way out, he backed off from the door as he heard it unlock and start to swing open.  
He grabbed the first man and spun him around and caught him with a sweet right hook that knocked him clean out, and then focused his attention on the second man. His jaw screamed at him as the other man's fist connected and he felt his lip split and blood flew out, but Nate knew this might be the only chance he has to get away. He swung a left to the man's midsection and as he moved to his left to get out of the way Nate swung a right and connected on the bridge of the man's nose. He dropped like a stone screaming like a little girl clutching his nose as blood poured down it. Nate took the opportunity and ran like hell out of the door and turned left. He ran down a corridor and up some stairs and spotted a doorway to his right. He couldn't see or hear anyone near him so he ran full speed to the door and turned the handle. Locked, damn it. He tried the window next to him, locked as well so he picked up the nearest chair and threw it! Glass shattered and the window blew out giving Nate the escape he needed. He threw himself out of the window and rolled to his feet and began running, he didn't know where he was or who had took him but he needed to get as far away as possible and then take stock of what his options where.  
He stopped running after twenty minutes and hid in an old building watching to see if anyone had followed him. After ten minutes he relaxed a little and tried to figure out where he was. He looked out of one of the back window's and notice he was near water but he didn't recognise any of the buildings so he knew he wasn't in Portland. He looked at his watch and figured out he'd lost at least 24 hours, damn it he could be anywhere. He knew he had to get in touch with his team, so first thing was to try and find a phone and then call Hardison he could track the number and tell him just where the hell he was.  
He slowly opened the back door and looked out; he couldn't see any movement or hear any cars. He walked down the alley and turned left and spotted a phone, he was about to start walking towards it when he noticed a SUV parked just opposite. Could it just be coincidence or was it the same people who'd took him? He slowly made his way to the phone keeping in the shadows; he got within a few yards of the car when he got a glimpse of one of the guys. He had just lit a cigarette and the light off the match showed a bruised and bloodied face, yep it's the same guys thought Nate. Damn it, there covering the phone's I need a new plan. He backed off and took stock of his options. First, find out where he is, two get in touch with the team and three find out who is behind this.


	4. Let's Go Steal a Nate!

"Hardison, any luck on finding that van yet?" Eliot asked after all his efforts came to nothing.  
"Not yet man, there not in Portland anymore that's for sure. I'm trying to see if the van has a tracker on it so I can hack it and find it that way. I'm running the licence plate now".  
Eliot nodded and looked over at Sophie she was worried very worried as not one of the contacts claimed to know who was behind this. Parker was sitting beside Hardison eating some noodles, her eyes watching the screens intently trying to spot anything that would help. Eliot paced the room trying to figure out what to do next; he didn't like not knowing what was going on. He hated even more someone messing with his family, especially Nate. He thought of Nate of a father figure, he'd helped him through some tough times and he was always there for each of the team. No matter what they were all there for each other.  
"Age of the geek baby, age of the Geek" he heard Hardison shout as he had finally got a hit on the licence plate. "Tracking it now, just give me a while to get the location". The rest of the team paced the room waiting for Hardison to do his thing, they knew they'd get the location Hardison was the best and he never gave up.  
"Got it" shouted Hardison. "The van is in Salem".  
"Gear up", yelled Eliot. "Let's go get Nate".


	5. The pain begins

Nate at that moment in time was slowly coming to the realisation that he was stuck in the middle of nowhere. The one place he'd seen any signs of life where being watched by the men who had took him, he had to get to that phone. He froze as he felt a cold piece of metal placed against his neck and heard the words "get up very slowly Mr Ford and walk towards the van". He slowly stood up and started to raise his hands above his head but at the same time he pivoted on his left foot and tried to knock the gun away and but found his foot being kicked out from under him and the breath was knocked out of him as he slammed onto the cold concrete floor. He took in a few deep breaths as he tried to focus on the man standing above him.  
"Who are you?" he managed to ask.  
"Mr Ford I'm shocked you don't recognise me, after all these years I'm hurt".  
Nate felt himself being lifted off the floor and found himself face to face with Tony Kadjic.  
"Kadjic, how nice to see you again" Nate said. "How long's it…" his sentence was cut short by a fist to the stomach which knocked the wind out of him. He found himself being held upright so he couldn't bend into the next two punches that came. He started retching as his tried to catch his breath.  
"Take him back to the house and this time, don't let him get away or you'll answer to me". They dragged Nate and threw him into the car with one of them sitting him with him; they weren't taking any chances on him this time. They dragged Nate out of the car took him into a house and shoved him into a chair and tied his hands behind his back. He shouted out in pain as one of the men sucker punched him in the jaw, he tasted blood and spat it out onto the floor. The man grabbed him by the throat and said "If you ever do that again, I'll break all your fingers". And to prove a point he grabbed one of Nate's fingers on his left hand and bent it back breaking it in one quick move. Nate screamed as the pain registered in his mind a split second later. Sweat starting pouring down his face as he tried to focus on something else to take the pain away.  
"You son of a bitch" gasped Nate, "you do that again I'll kill you".  
The man just looked and laughed and walked off.


	6. Onward Bound!

6.  
At that moment in time the team where half way to Salem in Lucille.  
"The van's on the move again Eliot" Parker explained as she watched the monitor. "They didn't go far they've stopped outside an old house, getting the address now".  
Eliot smiled, who ever these guys where they didn't count on Hardison's skills at hacking finding them so soon. He put his foot down that little harder on the accelerator; he wanted to get there in case Nate was moved again.  
As Hardison tapped furiously on his laptop Parker was thinking of the first time they'd worked together, it didn't go as well as planned. Come to think of it not a lot of cons had gone that smoothly but they'd always managed to get the job done. That to Parker is a sign of a good team. What was it that Eliot said, oh yeah "That's 20 pounds of crazy in a 5 pound bag". He sure was right about that! She'd be all kinds of crazy to get Nate back, they all would.

**Sorry for the short chapter, but I hope your liking it so far!**


	7. Let the pain begin!

Nate thought about just how the hell Kadjic had got out of prison. Mind you he thought, I've done it before and it wasn't that hard to do. He tried to shift his position in the chair and was rewarded by a sharp shooting pain through his broken finger. He gasped in pain and took deep breaths to try to ease the pain. He never heard Kadjic enter the room with his men; he only knew they were there when a fist connected to his jaw. The chair tipped over causing Nate to land on his already damaged left hand; he couldn't help a cry of pain escaping his lips. They hauled him back upright and he found himself facing Kadjic.  
"Well then Nate, I owe it to you to let you know that the next few days are going to be extremely painful for you, but really enjoyable to me. You see it took me a lot of time and money to get out of prison and I've been thinking of you every day". The blow to Nate's stomach was followed by a blow to his already bruised jaw. His head snapped back and then he was doubled up in pain as a blow to his solar plexus took his breath away. Kadjic nodded and his men released Nate's hands from the chair and forced him to stand upright. The blows came slowly and methodically to his midsection causing intense pain after each blow landed, the blow to his jaw knocked him out of the grasp of the two men and he hit the floor hoping for the darkness to consume him and end this pain. No such luck. Kadjic drove his right foot into Nate's back and circled around then drove his foot into his midsection. Nate's eyes streamed with tears, he found himself screaming in pain, so much pain he couldn't breathe. His found he was gasping for air he couldn't catch his breath for a few minutes and this caused intense pleasure to Kadjic, Nate could hear him laughing. Nate lay still waiting for the next blow to come, he felt his left hand being grabbed and then heard the distinct noise of bone breaking as another of his fingers was snapped back. Nate screamed in pain as it registered in his brain a split second later, he felt his stomach churn and couldn't stop himself from throwing up onto the floor. He lay still every tiny bit of movement sending severe pain through his entire body, gasping for breath to try to ease the pain of his damaged ribs that announced itself every time he breathed in. He screamed in protest as he was hauled up and they threw him back onto the chair and tied him back up. He groaned as his fingers throbbed and he could feel the swelling beginning already, he hoped that the rest of the team had found him as he didn't think he'd be a source of amusement for Kadjic much longer.


	8. Paybacks a bitch!

"Were about ten minutes away Eliot, and the van hasn't moved for the last two hours" Hardison said as he lifted his head from his laptop screen.  
"Let me know when we get to within 2 blocks, we'll have to go in and case the place first, Parker I want you to get into the building and get us some info on who, how many and find where Nate is being held". Parker nodded in agreement and when about getting the equipment she would need.  
"Sophie, Hardison where going to come up with a plan".  
Sophie looked at Eliot with sure determination in her eyes.  
"They've hurt Nate and that means they've hurt all of us and for that they must pay no matter what the cost!" Hardison pulled the van up and turned to Eliot.  
"It's only a 5 minute walk from here as far as I can tell it's an old house there inside". He swung his laptop around and showed them the street view from Google Earth. Eliot studied the picture for a while then looked up and said.  
"Ok, so it's a two way entrance. One of us goes in the front door and another around the back. Parker I need you to get them doors unlocked for us to gain entry without anyone knowing. Can you do that?"  
Parker gave a look of disgust and felt insulted that Eliot would even ask that question.  
"Yes I can do that I'll only need five minutes tops to do both doors".  
"Ok, Com check first, you all hear me Ok?" asked Eliot. He got nods all around. "OK then Parker go, let us know when you get the doors done and get a head count for us".  
Parker reached the house and gained entry without seeing or hearing anyone, she unlocked both doors and proceeded to look for any signs of life. She didn't find or hear anything till she reached the basement door, she almost kicked the door in right there and now as she could hear Nate screaming in agony.  
"Eliot, get here now. I don't know how many guys there is but I can hear Nate and there torturing him and I can't take much more of his screams". She barely finished her sentence when she heard Eliot's voice right behind her.  
"You ready for some payback?"


	9. Blood Runs Cold!

Kadjic and his men never heard the door opening and closing as Nate's screams drowned all sound out! Eliot's blood started to boil as he noticed they were slowly breaking Nate's fingers one by one and his face was covered in blood. Eliot nodded to Hardison and Parker to take out the guy on the left and he and Sophie had the guy on the right. Parker aimed and fired her taser and smiled as the guy dropped like a stone, Eliot caught the other guy with a sweet right to the jaw as the guy turned to find out what had happened. He hit the floor with a loud thud and Eliot was already in motion grabbing Kadjic and spinning him around away from Nate, he had to dodge the knife that Kadjic thrust at him. He hadn't even seen it but it made no difference he grabbed his wrist and heard a loud pop as he bent it back, the scream he didn't even hear as he was so focused on getting to Nate. Parker decided enough was enough and used her taser on Kadjic.  
"Eliot" the tone of Sophie voice made his blood run cold, she was staring at Nate not able to move. Eliot looked down at Nate and realised that they hadn't just broke his fingers they'd severed his little finger off and it was lying on the floor next to the chair.  
"You bastard" yelled Parker as she started kicking Kadjic whilst he was down, it took all of Eliot's will to not join in but knew they had to get Nate out of there.  
"Parker, Parker" he yelled "STOP, we need to get Nate out of here, I need you to find some ice anything to put his finger in. They may be able to save it".  
Parker stopped looked at Eliot with a look of pure rage that even made Eliot shiver, she gave one last kick and ran off to find something. Sophie had cut the ties from Nate's wrists, Eliot took the knife and ripped a strip off his shirt and tied it around Nate's hand to stem the bleeding. Hardison was making sure that Kadjic and his men where incapacitated, and then ran over to help Eliot and Sophie tend to Nate. Parker appeared running back down the stairs she picked up the finger and placed it in the bag sealing it and then placed it in a bag of cold water with some ice in it.  
Hardison, Parker and Sophie picked up Nate and started to carry him up the stairs to the van.  
Eliot waited till the rest of the team had gone and walked over to Kadjic and leaned down and whispered in his ear.  
"If I ever see you again, I will kill you".  
Kadjic laughed and replied "then you'd better kill me now, as I don't intend to stop till your all dead". Eliot turned and looked up the stairs then back at Kadjic…..  
"Eliot, what took you so long" Hardison asked as Eliot jumped into the back of the van. Sophie took one look at Eliot's face and knew instantly what had happened and knew that Kadjic would never be bothering them again.  
"Floor it Parker, we need to get to a hospital asap" shouted Sophie as she stroked Nate's face telling him everything was going to be ok.

**Sorry for the wait for this chapter but work has been hectic so not had much time to write at the moment. Hope your all enjoying it so far, and I'll update asap! **


	10. The Wait!

They arrived at the hospital within half an hour, Parker's driving was erratic but they knew she'd get them there fast. Hardison ran into the hospital yelling for a gurney and a doc to help! Eliot pulled the Doc to one side explaining what had happened and handed him the severed finger. The hospital team where working on Nate all the way to the ER with the Doc paging the Plastic Surgeon on duty to meet him in the ER stat.

"Hardison, you need to interrupt the phone call that the doc's are going to make to the police, we can't have them finding out who Nate is. We need a false ID for him and Parker will need to be the detective who comes for the statement". Hardison nodded and jumped back in the van and told Parker of the plan. Parker entered the hospital about 10 mins after the call was made, she was taken to one side and the Doc explained that the patient had been severely beaten and one finger was sliced off. They managed to reattach it but full range of movement would probably never come back. Parker wrote all this down and asked if she could "question" the victim. To which she was told not just yet, he is under sedation and would be for a few hours.  
Parker found the rest of the team in the waiting room and walked in to "question" them. She told them what the doc had told her and concern was etched on all there face's. Sophie collapsed onto the chair tears streaming down her face the stress of the last few hours had taken their toll on all of them. Nate was alive and that was the most important part, at least he'd be coming home with them soon they all knew it could have been a lot worse.


	11. The recovery

Nate thought he could hear something but couldn't quiet place it, it was just out of his reach. He tried to lift his arms to reach out but he couldn't get them to respond no matter how hard he tried. He caught little bits of a conversation going on beside him, finger severed, reattached but no full movement would be likely. Who where they talking about and why couldn't he move? He tried to speak but no words would come out, he could see blurred lights and shadows in front of him. He groaned as the darkness around him started to ease and he could make out the shadows as people standing beside him. He heard a familiar voice full of concern ask him a question, it took him a while to work out just what that question was.  
"Nate, Nate, how you feeling?" asked Sophie as she stroked his hair. Nate opened his eyes a bit more and found himself looking into her deep brown eyes and could do nothing but smile. He tried to lift his arms up to embrace her but still they wouldn't respond, he looked at his arms and noticed the huge swath of bandages that engulfed his left hand. He looked at Sophie with a puzzled look and asked her what had happened. Sophie with tears streaking her face explained to Nate that they had broken 3 fingers on his hand and they'd severed one off, the Doc's had managed to reattach it but he may not get full movement back. Nate took a few moments to process what he just been told, he closed his eyes and remembered what had happened. He remembered them breaking his fingers one by one. The pain was so intense he must have passed out as he couldn't remember even seeing a knife let alone seeing them slice his finger off! He opened his eyes again and looked at Sophie, the concern in her eyes was evident.  
"Where's the rest of the team?" he asked as he looked around the room.  
"Just outside the door Nate, I can call them in if you want?"  
"No, not yet I just wanted to know they were all ok, I just want to rest for a while I'm tired I'll see them later". Sophie nodded and waited till he fell asleep and left the room to update everyone on his condition.  
"He was awake and asked after everyone, he was more concerned about us that I don't think he quiet took in when I told him about his fingers. He's sleeping now which is what I think we all need". Eliot, Parker and Hardison nodded in agreement and all made their way back to the relatives lounge, there was no way they were leaving Nate and Sophie on their own now. They will all go home together and if that took a few days, so be it. After all that's what families did!


	12. Home at last!

They sat in the hospital waiting room awaiting news of the results to see if the operations were a success on Nate's hands. Sophie had gone in with him and they'd been in their about half an hour and they were getting anxious about the results. They all shot to their feet when the door opened and the Doctor, Nate and Sophie emerged.  
"Well. What's the verdict?" asked Parker.  
"The breaks in his fingers have healed brilliantly, he has full movement. The reattached finger is going to take more time to heal properly, but there is movement there and that is a good sign" the Doc said as Nate and Sophie walked past the rest of the team and out to the car. Eliot thanked the Doc and hurried out the door with Hardison and Parker to catch up with Nate and Sophie.  
"Hey Nate, wait up man" Hardison said as they caught up with them in the parking lot.  
"I'm sorry guys I just had to get out of there, too many memories whenever I go to a hospital. I just can't stay in there anymore". The team nodded their understanding as Sophie opened the van door for Nate to get in. The journey back to Nate's was a subdued affair; they watched as Nate flexed his hands into fists then out again. You could see the little finger was just not bending as much as it used to and they could see he was getting angrier and angrier with the situation.  
"Give it time Nate; the doc said it would take a bit longer to heal". Sophie explained as she tried to calm his anger. Nate without thinking went to punch the side of the van and Eliot managed to grab his arm before his fist hit the wall.  
"Whoa Nate, you want to damage your hands beyond repair that's the way to do it"  
Nate buried his head in his hands and was finding it extremely hard to stop the tears that where welling up in his eyes from falling.  
"I'm sorry guys; I owe it to you to beat this. I mean it could have been so much worse when I think about it. If you guys hadn't of got to me in time I don't know what they would have done". He felt a soft hand on his chin and it lifted his head up to face them and with tears streaming down her face Sophie smiled and that smile made Nate's tears start falling. The rest of the journey was Sophie just holding onto Nate and stroking his hair telling him they were here for him no matter what.  
When they finally got Nate upstairs to his place, Sophie managed to persuade him to go a lie down. He'd been through a lot and shouldn't rush things; they would sort everything out that needed doing. Nate reluctantly agreed and went off to his room, with strict instructions from Eliot to take his med's and no drinking alcohol till after he'd finished the course.


	13. Friendship

Sophie put the kettle on to make a cup of tea to take to Nate but by the time she'd got to the room, Nate was sound asleep and she didn't want to wake him.  
"How is he?" asked Parker as Sophie quietly closed the bedroom door.  
"He went out like a light; I didn't have the heart to wake him just for a drink".  
"He'll need a lot of help and support till his hands heal properly, we must not let him do anything too soon or it could halt his recovery" Eliot said as he sat down heavily on the couch. They all nodded in unison, they would do whatever it took to get Nate back to full fitness. They needed him just as much as he needed them! Nate slept most of the night and part of the morning, he never noticed Sophie slip under the covers beside him during the night. Hardison and Parker slept in the guest room and Eliot took the couch. He woke early and fixed breakfast of eggs and bacon with a fresh pot of coffee brewing on the side. He knew that today was going to be a rough one on everyone; they would start the physio on Nate and it wasn't going to be easy. He already had a set of hand grips ready and was looking at other ways of getting Nate's hands back to full strength. The hard part was going to be getting Nate to take it slowly; it wasn't going to get better overnight it was going to be a long process. He looked up as the door opened and in walked Nate  
"Hey Nate, take a seat I got you some eggs and bacon and there's a fresh pot of coffee on the go". He nodded and walked over to the kitchen table and sat down with a sigh, Eliot placed his breakfast down and poured him a coffee.  
"Smells good" Nate said as he tried to pick up his fork to eat it. "God damn it, I can't even eat without fucking it up" he yelled as the fork fell out of his grasp. Eliot picked up the fork and placed it back into Nate's hand and replied.  
"Like it or not you got us to help you till you get back to strength and we won't take no for an answer".  
The next few weeks where pure hell for Nate but he knew he had to do it to improve his strength in his hands. Eliot had bought him some Hand Grips and he'd been walking around squeezing them almost 24/7 and in all honesty he could feel his grip getting stronger. He was now working on getting his little finger to bend a bit more then it was, he could still use it but it was not fully functional. Sophie would always laugh when he had a cup of coffee, saying he looked like a proper English gentleman with his finger stuck up in the air like that. He knew she was trying to lighten his mood, and in all honesty it was working, he could tell it wasn't so bad now! One of the best forms of exercise he'd found was with the help of Hardison, using his computer was a great help to his finger. The constant typing was moving his finger and helping the muscles and tendons by stretching them more then the hand grips ever could!  
They'd done a Con in the last week, so that had took his mind off it for a while, but he knew he was still a long way off from being 100% back to normal. He knew he still had the brains and skill to do the job in hand, it would take time but he'd get there. But he owed it to the team, hell even himself to get his life back on track and not to let this ruin his life. He wouldn't / couldn't let this get in the way of helping others, he had a job he loved with a team he loved and nothing was going to stop him from continuing with it.

THE END.


End file.
